Sasuke and Kakashi Family Feels
by elrmartin
Summary: Just some Kakashi/Sasuke father/son relationship.


Sasuke was no fool, he could tell that Kakashi was pissed at him at the moment. At least, Kakashi's rage was subtle. Sasuke's teammates didn't even notice that their Sensei was acting colder towards Sasuke than usual but the raven-haired boy did and he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he's just lost something vital to him.

Only now, after he was rather roughly pushed away which resulted in him falling on the ground with a heavy sigh while Kakashi loomed over him, Sasuke came to a realization that after the loss of his family, he found a father figure in his Sensei. He liked that Kakashi was patient with him and that the older man liked to spend his free time by Sasuke's side which only led young Uchiha to believe that he was just as important to Kakashi as Kakashi was to him.

Sasuke felt deeply betrayed now when the realization hit him. Perhaps it was a mistake to think that Kakashi viewed him as something more than a regular student. After all, even though they did spend time together, it was often focused on the training rather than something person a father would do with his son.

"The training is over," Kakashi said and for a moment it seemed that his eyes turned a bit gentler before they hardened again. "You all need to rest," he said but kept his head turned towards Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke coughed as he stood up and Kakashi briefly looked at him and nodded before he disappeared again. Sasuke watched the place where his Sensei stood only a few moments ago and frowned. He clenched his fists.

Naruto by his side growled. "What's this?" he started jumping up and down and his face turned red in anger. "He was so weird today!" Sakura nodded after a moment of consideration and stepped closer to Sasuke. She wasn't brave enough to dare to touch him yet and Sasuke could be only thankful for that.

"It was nothing, surely," he growled, trying to convince himself and the others as well. He did his best to pretend that he wasn't worried about their Sensei's behavior. Sakura by his side nodded obediently as she did whenever he said something and Naruto's face turned red when he noticed it. He eyed Sasuke angrily but the other boy paid him no mind. When Sasuke saw that there was nothing he could do, he turned on his heel, prepared to leave.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called after him when she noticed he was going away and extended her hand towards him though they both knew it would not be enough to stop him. Sasuke hid his hands in the pockets of his trousers and shrugged without sparing her a glance. "Kakashi told us that we are free for today. Well, I am not wasting my time doing nothing." He wanted to return to his apartment and think clearly about what happened today. Sasuke still wasn't sure if he did something wrong and what was it. He couldn't remember anything. Of course, he did argue with Naruto and wasn't exactly nice when talking to Sakura but he was always like this.

Sasuke stopped walking suddenly. His eyes were wide open in shock. Perhaps this was it. Perhaps was Kakashi finally fed up with all this nonsense. Sasuke gritted his teeth together and hurried home. He disliked days like this because he was always reminded that while the others had at least someone who waited for them at home, Sasuke lived all alone far away from the others. There was no one to greet him or ask him how his day went.

In truth, Sasuke enjoyed long days spent with his team. That was he was lonely only for a little while between his training and sleep. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he found himself in a situation like this and it bothered him. Kakashi was clearly about something. Sasuke had a feeling that whatever caused it was Sasuke's fault. So he decided to do one thing he would otherwise never do.

When team 7 met the following day, Sasuke was prepared to make sure that Kakashi liked him all over again. The older man still wasn't looking at him but Sasuke tried to assure himself that his plan would work. He did his best to follow his Sensei's orders and when the time came, he willingly stepped back and with raised hands said that Naruto was right after all when a new argument arose. Naruto, taken back by Sasuke's words blinked at him in confusion.

"That's it?" he asked and cocked his head to the side. "I thought…"

Sasuke forced himself to smile. "You were right, I can't argue against something is right, after all." He had to bite his tongue and prevent himself from yelling at Naruto because he noticed that Kakashi looked at him with interest that mirrored in his silver eyes. Sasuke relaxed almost immediately and a warm feeling filled his chest. Perhaps he was right and now when he knew what the problem was, he could work on it.

Naruto, who clearly didn't understand a thing, only slowly shook with his head and with narrowed eyes looked at Sakura. She seemed bewildered too but she didn't say anything at least, probably thinking that Sasuke was just in a good mood and believed that soon the boys will start arguing again. Sasuke, true to his word, acted kindly towards Naruto all day long and in the evening, when Kakashi finally told them to stop training and sent them on their way home, Sasuke felt as his lips hurt from too much smiling.

He wanted to punch Naruto, that smug bastard but the only thing that prevented him from doing so was the fear of losing Kakashi's approval once again.

"Sasuke?"

The young boy shivered when he heard his Sensei's calming voice gently him to come closer. He looked at his teammates but noticed that both Naruto and Sakura were too far away to hear them and so he turned to Kakashi. He felt nervous all of a sudden, wondering if Kakashi noticed that something was wrong.

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, studying his student with hardly concealed curiosity. "Is something wrong?" he asked and then crunched down, to be able to look right into Sasuke's eyes, aware that he was taller and the boy had to keep his head up to see his face. Sasuke shivered when Kakashi touched his shoulders and gently squeezed them. It was almost enough to make him talk but at the last moment, he decided against it. Sasuke was sure that this display of affection was just because Kakashi was his Sensei. The other man could never care about Sasuke if the situation was different.

"No," Sasuke shook his head. "Of course not."

It seemed that Kakashi didn't believe him for a moment. "You usually don't just accept anything that Naruto says, no matter if it's right or wrong. I just wanted to assure-"

"I am fine," Sasuke cut him off in the middle of the sentence but didn't step back. He enjoyed when Kakashi's attention was focused on him.

Kakashi looked strangely at him. He looked like he wanted to add something else but there was no time for that because Sasuke was already turning on his heel. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei," he said cheerfully, afraid that Kakashi might see through his act and then it all would be over. He couldn't lose the older man, especially not when he became the most important person in Sasuke's life. It was clear that he just needed to try harder and perhaps then would Kakashi love him as he would love his own son.

His plan was mostly successful for the next few days. He spent all his time trying to get on Naruto's good side and being nice to Sakura. He knew that Kakashi eventually noticed that something was going on and started to observe Sasuke more closely as if he was expecting that something was about to happen. He tried to talk with Sasuke a few times but Sasuke always avoided that confrontation, aware that Kakashi would be able to see through his act and he didn't want to risk it now, when Kakashi seemed to like him once again, perhaps even more.

While his teammates seemed happy that Sasuke changed the way he treated them, Kakashi grew more and more suspicious. Sasuke stopped accepting his invitations for spending some time alone and it even went as far as avoiding Kakashi when he could. Kakashi, who was now spending his time trying to figure out what was wrong, felt hurt by the boy's sudden change of behavior. He wondered if it was his own fault and if it was, what he did wrong.

One day, shortly after the training ended, he waited a moment and caught Sasuke before he could leave. "Sensei?" young boy stared at him with wide eyes, blinking rapidly. "Is something wrong?" Kakashi shook his head but didn't explain himself until Sakura and Naruto left completely. Then he kneeled down.

"Perhaps we could talk," he smiled through his mask and cocked his head to the side, hoping that the boy would accept his offer. It's been so long since he had a chance to spend his time with Sasuke and Kakashi could not lie and claim that he didn't miss the closure he had with the boy.

Sasuke seemed baffled for a moment and turned his head to the side only to realize that he was now alone with Kakashi and that Sakura and Naruto already went home. He sighed because he knew he wouldn't be able to say no this time and could only hope that Kakashi won't find out about his plan. He would have to explain then his fears when it came to Kakashi's attention. "Sure," he nodded and saw as Kakashi's posture relaxed once again. He noticed that his Sensei smiled beneath the mask and stood up again. He gently took Sasuke by his shoulders and led them back into the village.

At first, Sasuke believed they were heading for dinner but the moment he found himself standing in front of the door leading to Kakashi's apartment, he understood that his Sensei knew that something was wrong. Kakashi opened the door and pushed the boy inside, knowing that if he hesitated, Sasuke would try to run away.

"Well then," he clasped his hands together once the door was closed and he could focus solely on Sasuke. "Perhaps we should talk."

Sasuke tried to avoid looking into Kakashi's face. "Why did you bring me here?" he asked, pouting as a way of hiding his growing nervousness.

Kakashi sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him, inviting Sasuke to sit down as well. "We have more privacy here, don't you think? I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. It seems that something's been wrong recently, Sasuke. I just wanted to make sure that you're aware that I am always here to talk to you if something goes wrong. You do know that, right?"

Sasuke nodded but still didn't look at his Sensei. It only worried Kakashi more. "What is it?" he asked again, knowing that he can't push too hard otherwise Sasuke wouldn't talk at all. He reached for Sasuke and brought the young boy closer. "You can tell me anything, Sasuke. I won't get angry, I promise." At this point was Kakashi convinced that he would forgive Sasuke anything, no matter how terrible was his crime.

Sasuke shrugged. "I am sorry." Something must have broken inside of him because he ran into Kakashi's embrace and wrapped his hands around the older man's middle. Kakashi could feel that the boy was shaking. Kakashi froze, not sure how to react to this. The last time he saw Sasuke in a similar state was shortly after the massacre. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and pushed him away, trying to find out if Sasuke was hurt in some way.

The boy looked away but Kakashi could tell that Sasuke was still crying. "Sasuke," Kakashi called the boy's name gently. "Please, tell me what's going on. I can't help you otherwise." He stroked Sasuke's hair.

Sasuke hesitated and Kakashi was almost sure that the boy will refuse to talk but then, finally, Sasuke spoke. "I am just worried… You became very important to me and I can't bear the thought of you not – "

Sasuke paused.

Kakashi suddenly knew what this was all about. "Sasuke. You must understand that I wasn't angry with you back then. I had a bad day, I admit it was wrong of me to push you away. But Sasuke…" Kakashi brushed the boy's cheeks. "I still love you. Nothing in this world could ever change that." When he held Sasuke in his arms, it almost felt like he was holding his own son. Sasuke hopefully looked at him and Kakashi pressed a kiss against the boy's forehead, trying to soothe him.

"I thought that if I changed my behavior…" Sasuke closed his eyes and his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

"I admit it was nice seeing you getting on well with Naruto and Sakura but I assure you that I wouldn't mind if you returned back to your old self." It seemed that Sasuke needed to hear that to feel assured. Kakashi could tell that the boy immediately relaxed and pressed even closer against his Sensei as if he was afraid that Kakashi would let him go any moment now.

"I am sorry," Sasuke apologized.

Kakashi just shook his head. "It's quite alright," he said. He held the boy close, aware that Sasuke was exhausted. Just like he expected, the boy soon fell asleep in his arms, still gripping the front of Kakashi's jacket.

Kakashi held Sasuke close, promising to himself that from now on, he would make sure the boy in his arms was well taken care of. Sasuke didn't have any family anymore but Kakashi would make sure that he would become Sasuke's guardian.


End file.
